The True Cost of Discipleship

Revisiting the Dietrich Bonhoeffer dilemma

The Crucifixion of St. Andrew by Carlo Braccesco. Andrew, crucified in Patras, Greek, was allegedly bound to his cross by ropes, and he survived for two days. He was crucified for his refusal to worship pagan gods and cease preaching the true Gospel.

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I published an article in December titled “The Leaven of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” It has received mixed reviews, which I anticipated before its publication. I am thankful that it has percolated such fruitful and rigorous discussion. This is my hope for every article I produce.

After writing the article, I have considered a recurring response to the article that I have received. This claim will serve as the foundation of this article. I have been encouraged to consider in my theological and historical analysis of Bonhoeffer’s work the greater context of his life: the times in which he lived, the civil and religious subversion he faced, and the circumstances under which he wrote and produced his theological works.

These factors brought to mind one of his well-known works, The Cost of Discipleship. Though I am not a Bonhoeffer scholar, I have read the book, and I am familiar with Bonhoeffer’s argument throughout the work, in which he idealizes the Christian life by focusing on what it means to follow Christ. He helpfully delineates between cheap grace and costly grace, the former of which is a shallow, meaningless gospel. Bonhoeffer writes that it is “grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”¹

Concerning costly grace, on the other hand, Bonhoeffer contends that it “confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him.”² This differentiation, to Bonhoeffer’s due credit, is an incredibly important distinction for Christians living in these darkening days. As Christendom gravitates toward that which Bonhoeffer would refer to as “cheap grace,” we must recognize that to follow Christ necessarily and fundamentally includes the idea of “costly grace.”

Thus, all seems to be in order. What, then, is the issue?

Bonhoeffer’s helpful delineation of cheap grace versus costly grace was never a concern to me. I have found it to be quite helpful and thought-provoking. In my previous article, I included this distinction between cheap and costly grace only in view of his greater theological framework. Bonhoeffer’s delineation by itself is helpful. For in this seemingly helpless age of Christendom, Christians must recognize the true cost of discipleship: complete submission to God’s inerrant, inspired, authoritative Word. 

Nominally, I do not suppose Bonhoeffer would disagree, either. He might agree that Scripture is the rule and norm of faith. After all, discipleship is rooted in God’s revealed Word. There must necessarily be a revelation from God in order to dictate what the Christian life ought to be—or at least provide perspective on what it means to be a “Christian.” Bonhoeffer might even agree that Scripture is in some fashion “authoritative.”

Yet I say that Bonhoeffer would nominally agree with these claims—and I highlighted his delineation of cheap and costly grace—because his apparent subjection to the Word comes to naught under the scrutiny of his larger theological framework. He might claim that Scripture is “the answer to all our questions,”³ but under what authority does Scripture answer these questions? How can Scripture answer any of our questions when there are, in Bonhoeffer’s unfortunate and fallacious estimation, verifiable “empirical inaccuracies?”⁴

How can we be certain of Scripture’s authority if we cannot be certain of the veracity of Scripture itself?

In my previous article, I demonstrated that Bonhoeffer was in many respects a heterodox—indeed, a heretical—theologian. Influenced by Karl Barth and his broad theological network, Bonhoeffer subjugated Scripture to historical criticism. He denied Scriptural inerrancy. He denied the Creation account, refuted the Virgin Birth, and questioned the historicity of the Resurrection.⁵ 

These are not “boogie words,” nor are these claims to be taken lightly. These terms are not merely alarmist cries. The alleged “legalist” in me desires to speak with greater harshness, yet even the realist in me understands that Bonhoeffer’s theology is incredibly dangerous, against which a harsh rebuke and a dire warning to all Christians are warranted. That which Bonhoeffer unabashedly rejected in his theological writings are the very essence of Scripture and the lifeblood of Christian faith. These things possess a great deal of meaning—they are, in fact, the sum and substance of God’s revealed Word.

When you deny the inerrancy of Scripture—what’s left? When you condense the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit down to “empirical inaccuracies”—what’s left? When you have destroyed the very foundation of God’s inspired and inerrant Word—what’s left?

When all is said and done, you are left with nothing. Thus, to be a Christian would be to have nothing. There is no rock, no foundation, no substance. It is meaningless. Substance, meaning, and hope cannot be found in that which cannot produce certainty. Thus, there is nothing to which you may submit your life. The Christian life is rendered meaningless.

On the surface, Bonhoeffer may have correctly differentiated between meaningless “faith” and true discipleship, but at what cost? To what does it all amount when the faith for which he allegedly contends is not rooted in a Christ whose Word is inspired and inerrant? What does it mean when this living Word was not born of the Virgin Mary? What is it all for—salvation included—when the Resurrection is not an empirically accurate moment in history to which the Christian may cling and in which God’s people find great comfort.

Discipleship is much more than an artificial or nominal profession of belief. It includes more than a shallow and meaningless belief about God. “Yes, of course I believe in God.” So what? What does that mean? You believe a god exists. Who is this god? What has this god done—and how do you know? How might I discern who this god is and what this god has done? Vague belief and shallow “discipleship” amounts to nothing, which Bonhoeffer correctly identified in his writings—yet he was also influenced by this same poison. It corrupted the fruits of his alleged faith.

Certainly a Christian must bear the cross of discipleship. Indeed, this discipleship includes a necessary profession of belief, but this profession is creedal, doctrinal, and above all, scriptural—and faith is far more than this. It is not simply a profession, but it is life itself. It is not an aspect of the believer’s life; rather, it is the foundation, basis, and essence of the believer’s life.

Submission to Christ is not optional; it is required. Included in this necessity, however, is the command to submit oneself totally and entirely to God’s inerrant Word. To be a disciple of Christ is to believe His words and to live out this belief every day. Denying the Virgin birth, forsaking the Resurrection, and making an empirical mockery of God’s Word undermine discipleship. 

Faith, no less faith in God’s revelation of Himself to mankind, is especially necessary—and comforting—in times of persecution. To be a disciple of Christ is to have resolute conviction and indispensable hope. Persecution, hatred, and death will come as it may, yet the Christian dies certain of the resurrection of the dead on the Last Day. Yet this certainty cannot be if the resurrection of Christ did not occur. One cannot hope in that which does not exist.

Yet what is the true cost of discipleship?

One must suffer all, even death, for the sake of Christ. To forsake one’s Christian confession when this confession matters most is to forsake the grace Christ won for us on the cross. Rejecting the good and perfect gifts of God for the sake of “philosophical genius” or “theological confession”—or even to avoid political persecution—is a complete rejection of faith and discipleship.

Indeed, it would do the Christian well to consider Bonhoeffer’s context. Throughout the Second World War, it would certainly be difficult for any theologian to profess the faith with boldness and courage. Yet our Lord’s command to do so should not fall by the wayside simply because it is difficult. Jesus says that we will be persecuted for His name’s sake. Yet we must be ready and willing to suffer even death for His name.

I do not concern myself with Bonhoeffer’s context when it is used to excuse his heretical teachings and blatant disregard for the very discipleship to which he exhorted others. His call to discipleship means nothing since he lacked the courage and prudence to defend even the most basic foundation that our Lord’s Word is inspired and inerrant. 

His delineation of cheap grace and costly grace may be helpful in itself, but his outright rejection of God’s Word leads me to believe that the Church ought to have nothing to do with him and his dangerous theology. 

A man who lacks the courage and integrity to defend the faith and its basic principles even amid persecution cannot and must not be trusted—especially in theological matters. Even several decades after his death, Bonhoeffer’s work continues to be massively influential in rather confessional Lutheran circles. Yet I fail to understand why we must pursue his work over and against many other Lutheran theologians, all of whom wrote in far greater detail, with far greater integrity, and with far greater concern for God’s Word and its unalterable and infallible authority.

1. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Touchstone, 1995) 43-45, 59.

2. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Touchstone, 1995) 43-45, 45.

3. Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, (West Bow, Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson), p. 136.

4. a. Bonhoeffer, “Jesus Christus und vom Wesen des Christentums,” in Gesammelte Schriften, 5:137–38.
b. Bonhoeffer, Nachfolge, in Dietrich Bonhoeffer Werke, vol. 4 (Munich: Christian Kaiser Verlag, 1989), 219–21.

5. Bonhoeffer to Bethge, June 27, 1944, in Letters and Papers from Prison, 336–37.